Tao Te Ching 38 (Teaching 2)

The kind man does something, yet something remains undone. The just man does something, and leaves many things to be done.

The moral man does something, and when no one responds he rolls up his sleeves and uses force.
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This teaching makes the cynic in me smile as I think about the descent from kindness to morality. I've become cynical about people and institutions who profess to be acting from a revealed morality, which they want to “share with” (i.e., impose on) anyone who does not share in their revelation.

When people act out of kindness they can accomplish many things, while leaving “something” undone. When people act out of their sense of justice they may accomplish something, but they leave “many things” undone. This suggests that being motivated by kindness is more effective than being motivated by justice, as the former is more likely to stem from love or compassion for others, whereas the latter is more likely to stem from judging others on the basis of some form of ideology.

But the descent becomes steep when someone professes to be acting from a sense of morality. At that point, judging others as good or bad, or right or wrong, has become the entire point. The motivation is now driven by doctrine or dogma. The result, often, is that “no one responds”. Many people respond to kindness, though not everyone; some people respond to justice, though many do not. But it’s not unusual for no one to respond to someone else’s sense of morality.

When the moral man is ignored, his self-righteousness flares and he resorts to force in some form. That force may be physical, intellectual or emotional; or it may come dressed in some spiritual guise. No matter the form it will attempt to overpower the will and control the actions of the “ignorant”, the “sinner”, the “unsaved”. The result, as we see around the world, is often violent.

We would do well to ascend this ladder and return to being motivated by justice rather than morality, and then by kindness rather than justice.

What would the world be like if everyone declared, as has the Dalai Lama: “My religion is kindness.” Things would remain undone, to be sure. But there would be less force and less violence and less death in the name of morality. That seems like a better world, to me.